Page 18 of Confusing Hearts

“What’s wrong?” I asked him.

He pointed to the other side of the room, and then looked back at Tessa on the dance floor. His headed whipped between the two sides and I turned to look in the direction he pointed.

When my eyes landed on my beautiful mate, my entire world righted itself. Shocked, I jerked my head between the two. They looked the same, but they weren’t.

“Twins?” Patrick asked, voicing my own question. “Identical twins? Can you tell which one is which?”

I nodded. “That one,” I said, pointing to the girl leaning against the wall talking to Anita. “That one’s mine.”

I breathed a huge sigh of relief and doubled over to steady my breathing. Twins. Tessa was an identical twin. Pieces of the puzzle began falling into place.

The moment Anita left her side, I headed straight for her. Predatory instincts were on high alert. I didn’t say hi, I just stared at her, then back towards the dance floor.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were a twin, Tessa?”

She cringed, then stiffened her shoulders and raised her chin in defiance. “That’s Tessa,” she said, pointing to the girl on the dance floor. The pain in her voice and the hurt in her eyes felt like a kick in the groin. “I’m Jenna.”

Jenna

Chapter 8

I couldn’t help the hurt I felt every time he called me Tessa, but he was here, questioning me, and not her. That had to mean something. Didn’t it?

I wasn’t sure I could have said anything to shock him more. The confusion in his eyes was real. He really didn’t know.

“Jenna,” he said reverently, letting it roll off his tongue. It caused a warmth to bloom in the pit of my stomach.

“All this time. Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you correct me?”

I looked around in panic. We weren’t safe to talk openly here. “Not here,” I told him.

He nodded like he understood and walked away. Pain shot through me at his retreating back. Just like that? He’d give up on us so easily? I should have been relieved, but instead it felt as though my heart was on the verge of shattering.

My phone dinged with an incoming text and I checked it.

CHASE: Woods in 5.

I gasped for breath, trying to rein in the whirlwind of emotions he had just caused. I went to my room and grabbed my coat. I quickly reapplied my lip gloss. I tried my best to compose myself and paste on a smile. I didn’t feel confident walking through the house and out the back door, but I didn’t seem to draw any attention either, so I hoped I at least looked the part.

Heading straight for the woods, I looked around. Channeling my panther, I called on her eyesight to help me see in the dark. It took no time at all to find Chase. He was about fifteen feet into the woods and I knew that even my sisters wouldn’t see us from the house.

The moment I reached him, Chase grabbed me by the waist and pulled me flush against him. I gasped in surprise, but it was muffled as his lips crushed down against mine. Need and desire heated my skin and I purred against his mouth, greedily kissing him back. Shocked by my own response, I pulled back, breathless and wanting more.

“You have no idea how crazy you made me. One moment I was certain. The next, I felt nothing. I’ve been going out of my damned mind trying to figure out what the hell was going on between us.” He paused and looked at me in wonder. “Twins? You may look the same, but you definitely don’t feel the same.”

His hand framed my face and he breathed in my scent. When I didn’t pull away, he closed his eyes and pressed his lips to mine once again. This kiss was softer, sweeter, and held so much promise it simultaneously mended and broke my heart all over again.

“Jenna,” he said with a sigh against my swollen lips.

A tear ran down my cheek and he gently swiped it away as he pulled me into his embrace. Warmth, love, and belonging. That’s what I felt in his arms.

“When you called me Tessa today, I didn’t think you could tell us apart,” I sobbed into his strong, muscular chest.

“I may have had the wrong name, but I never had the wrong girl.”

We stood there just holding each other. I knew I shouldn’t let myself indulge, but my heart was in control now, no matter what my head told it.

He kissed the top of my head and pulled back to look at me.

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